Marketers like to talk about social media as a marketing platform. How can we get the message out? How can we control the message? How can we leverage this? Well, here’s the thing. The thing about social media is that it is in fact a media venue. (I heard about the health care reform on social media channels before I caught it on traditional news channels.)

Recently, I learned an equation from Michael Levine’s book, A Branded World: Adventures in Public Relations and the Creation of Superbrands. Branding = marketing + advertising + public relations.

Branding is the all encompassing effort of building a brand. It starts with marketing. Marketing defines the strategy. Marketing defines the 4Ps. Marketing defines the positioning.

Marketing’s plan gets translated into words and visuals through advertising.

Public relations builds on the advertising campaign and turns marketing’s plan into actions. Such actions include gathering media attention.

In that case, social media really falls into the realm of public relations. You build a relationship with bloggers the same way you build a relationship with traditional journalists. You “control” the message the same way – truthfully, honestly, and organically. It’s the same idea as controlling the press. Today, in addition to asking the question “What would the press say?”, we need to also ask “What would the world say?”

The world may be changing, but the basics still hold.

Photo credit: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

Up In The Air, staring George Clooney, opens nationwide on Christmas. I previewed the movie and enjoyed it. My friends gave it just okay reviews. See for yourself, and give your own ratings.

But, why am I writing about a movie on this blog? Because I thought it was great movie for product placement. Unlike James Bond movies where each product flashes in front of you for mere seconds, the products in this movie were an integral part of the movie. They really sold it. I think it was one of the best movies for product placement since the Italian Job.

What products were featured? American Airline, Hilton, Travelpro, and Hertz. Just to name a few.

Travelpro is a line of luggage. This movie showed again and again how great these luggage moves. They spin. They roll. They go everywhere with ease. All the cool jetsetters use them. Way better than the old clunky suitcases you may have at home (in fact, there is a scene dedicated to this point).

Hertz, it gets you in and out fast. If you’re a Hertz loyal customer, you can get in and out in seconds. No long lines. In fact, they will “move mountains” to get you the car you want.

Hilton hotels have plush soft beds, and comfy little robes and slippers. Hilton hotels offer all the comfort of home and then some, well, at least to a guy that travels for a living. Of course, don’t forget about the Hiltons HHonors program! It’s a great promotion (George Clooney said it, not me). Plus, you get to skip the lines and get the preferred VIP treatment! Loyalty pays.

Talking about Loyalty, let’s talk about the featured star: American Airline. American Airline can take you everywhere! It satisfies even the needs of someone who travels over 340 days and 300,000 miles a year! And once again, loyalty pays. If you’re a loyal customer, you get to use exclusive lounges, be greeted by a custom greeting, and even, if you’re really really really loyal, get your own dedicated customer service phone line. Ahh, I want to join AAdvantage now!

Ahh, product placement… when done well it’s integrated into the story line, while leaving you with a good impression of the brand.

Photo credit: American Airlines, originally uploaded by anneh632.

Related articles online

• Up in the Air: George Clooney becomes a frequent flyer (gadling.com)
• EXCLUSIVE: The Product Guy “Up in the Air” (tpgblog.com)

This week I learned that the more money you have, the less time you have to spend on any particular tasks. You could hire someone to do it for you.

However, if you don’t have the money, you’d have to spend more time.

This is the equation that any marketer must understand. You don’t need to have a lot of money to have a successful campaign. However, the smaller your budget, the harder each dollar must work, the more creative you’d have to be, the more work you’d have to do yourself. The larger the budget, the more crazy stuffs you could try, the more you could have someone else do the work for you.

However, a small budget shouldn’t limit the success of your marketing campaign.

What’s sad is that this formula, that’s so obvious with small businesses, is sometimes forgotten by big companies.

This is the new economy. This is the new reality. This is a new year. This is the new budget. Everyone of us needs to learn to do more with less.

Photo Credit: funny money, originally uploaded by Material Boy.

Related articles online

• Marketing outside the box (thestar.com)

Today I took the Starbucks Via challenge… and I was disappointed.

First of all, I could tell the difference. I didn’t know which was which, but I could tell the difference… and I did not like Via. The regular brew had a cleaner taste. So, the challenge did not sway me to buy Via.

However, I learned something about Via… it could be instantly dissolved in cold water, or cold milk! Imagine the possibility in the summer! But, wait… it’s only 50 degrees out… I don’t need a cold coffee… So, that’s an irrelevant message to me. However, I believe that Starbucks would launch a cold Via campaign in the summer. But of course, the problem would be how to differentiate this against the Starbucks’ bottled Frappacino.

Toward the end of the demonstration, I learned something even more exciting about Via. I learned that Starbucks designed the most nifty travel mug for Via. It is a regular travel mug, with a twist off cap that allows easy storage of the Via packages. Now, why isn’t this the focus of the campaign?

I understand that Starbucks is about taste, but Via is about the on-the-go lifestyle Americans have. In addition, a quick survey online would reveal that many could taste the difference between Via and the fresh brew. I am not alone in this. So, by solely focusing on taste, Via’s campaign is missing the opportunity to truly address what the product brings to the consumers’ life. Via’s branding should not be built on taste, something people already expect from a Starbucks product. Of course, people would wonder if Via could deliver on taste, but it isn’t a problem, unless Via really couldn’t deliver… People would not buy Via because of taste. They buy Via because it’s convenient! They buy Via because they wouldn’t have to make a coffee stop. They buy Via because they wouldn’t have to wait in line for a coffee. They buy Via because they could save two minutes in the morning!

Now, let me also give you the context of how this demonstration went. The barista was very diligent in focusing on the taste message. However, being a coffee addict and a marketer, I was particularly interested about this product launch. So, I stuck around and chatted with the Barista a little. It was after I was given the coupon, and the other couple that was also at that particular demonstration had left, that I learned about the cold brewing and the travel mug. Now, imagine how many people never knew about those two really cool facts about Via. How much potential sale lost…

Photo credit: Starbucks Via travel mug, originally uploaded by mhaithaca.

Related articles online

• Starbucks Goes Instant (online.wsj.com)
• Starbucks Debuts Its Via Instant Coffee Product (shoppingblog.com)
• Starbucks’ VIA Instant Coffee: A Potential Hit? (businesspundit.com)
• Starbucks’s new Via instant coffee: Don’t believe the hype (dailyfinance.com)

American Express OPEN posted an interview with Seth Godin yesterday. In case you didn’t know who Seth Godin is, he is a marketing guru with many successful books and writes one of the most widely read marketing blogs.

I’m not a small business owner, so I was not familiar with the OPEN forum till this article was brought to my attention. Upon playing around for a bit, I found this forum most interesting, and it isn’t just because it hosted a variety of interesting contents.

Credit, at the end of the day, is a commodity. American Express, Visa, MasterCard, etc., offer basically the same thing. So, how do you differentiate? You offer something more. In the case of American Express OPEN, they offer information small businesses can use, about finances and otherwise. In this case, marketing and running a business in this economy. This feeds right into their position of being the credit solution for small business owners.

Now, how valuable is this information to small business owners? Are they really reading it? Are they truly interacting with it?

Does it matter?

Maybe not.

It’s not the fact that they are providing the information to small business owners that’s helpful in their positioning. It’s the fact that they are establishing themselves to be dedicated to providing the information to small business owners that is truly differentiating. It doesn’t just position OPEN to be the expert in small businesses, it also positions OPEN to be a partner for small business owners.

This creates a positive feedback loop. The better their consumers do, in part because of the information OPEN provides, the more business they can afford to do with OPEN. The more relying they are to the information OPEN provides, the more loyal they are to OPEN. Then, more small business owners think and act this way, the bigger share OPEN has within this segment. With the bigger share, OPEN can more effectively serve this segment.

So, are you dedicated to go that extra mile, to help your consumers with their specific needs?

Photo credit: I Scream, originally uploaded by voteprime.

Story: Today, I got called by my Financial Advisor’s office. She was following up on if I received a form that needed me to sign. I rather quickly said no. Then I scrambled to my “to-do” pile to see if I forgot it in that pile. Nope. So, I hung up with the agreement that they will mail me a new form. Then, I walked over to my console table, and remember that I have the “still-need-to-go through” pile. Then, there it was: An unopened envelope from my financial advisor’s office. I opened it immediately, and called the office back. I found the form.

Insights: From that story, I had two insights.

1. I get way too much mail, and it takes me a long time to go through all my mail. Between junk mail, free magazines, paid magazines, newsletters, the useful and important mail often get lost in the piles.

2. In the world of emails, texts, etc., phone calls, a rather old fashion way of involving your customer, still works.

Conclusion: In today’s world, consumers are overwhelmed by information. High touch methods of consumer engagement remain to be the best way to break through the clutter, and differentiate you from your competition. Is that difficult to execute? Is that costly to execute? Yes and yes. But, consider this alternative: You choose the easy and cheap route, and your competitor choose the hard and expensive route. Who do you think would win in the end?

Photo credit: Why Didn’t You Call Me?, originally uploaded by bitzcelt.

This weekend is Comic Con. While I did not venture inside convention grounds, I was in downtown San Diego amidst all the chaos.

It is interesting to see the crowd that appears for Comic Con. It is a diverse group of fans of arts of all kinds. I have met some interesting people who were more “pure” artist, and while they still sell their products, they feel that some comic artists have sold out by pushing their products at Comic Con. I have met some people who were just loyal fans of long lasting comics. I have met people who are in the industry and wanted to take this opportunity to network with others in the industry. I have met people who are fans of recent Hollywood films.

This made me think the value of these events. At what point is it a specialized event, and at what point is it simply a big crowd? How do you build buzz amongst all the noise?

Hollywood is a marketing powerhouse, and they seem to know the answer. They have celebrities hosting special events outside Comic Con at various downtown San Diego venues after the convention wraps every night. I wonder if this is the trick.

Comic Con at this point has so much noise that it’s becoming hard to differentiate yourself among the masses. People going around are simply overwhelmed by all that is offered. To make a real connection with your fans, you have to make them feel special. You have to take them out of the noisy convention and give them some real one-on-one time. Or, if it’s not one-on-one, at least something a little bit more intimate.

This applies not only to something as big as Comic Con, but to any events of this sort. Host a happy hour, an after party, or at least a hospitality room could really maximize your exposure at these events. If such initiatives are budget prohibiting to smaller operations, at least try to connect with those you have met at these events electronically. Invite your loyal fans to the event. Host a chat with them after the event. Tweet to your fans about where they may find you during / after the event (and have an impromptu unofficial unhosted party). Take that extra effort to make a connection, and you would get that much more out of your attendance to these events!

Photo Credit: Top – San Diego Comic Con 2009, originally uploaded by ToFuGuns. Bottom – 2009 san diego comic-con, originally uploaded by koadmunkee.

The first one was from Nationwide insurance that detailed how they have a new iPhone app to help people make claims. The other one was from Coldwell Banker realtors showing how they have a smartphone app.

I wonder how that makes people without an iPhone or a smartphone feel… Does this make the company look cool and relevant or does it alienate?

At least, with Coldwell Banker, it was an app for any smartphone. So, it’s simply a technology play. The app pretty much is only useful if you end up working with a Coldwell Banker realtor. Howevere, in an effort to be inclusive, Nationwide’s app is open to anyone. Anyone can use this app to record claims information and then go to their own insurance company. However, at the end of the day, the app is iPhone specific… How many people actually have an iPhone?

Call me safe or old-fashioned, I think a company should promote a message of full-service. We have a full team of people to help you process your claim, but if you have an iPhone, you could now download this new app too to help you. A commercial that shows nothing but an iPhone app almost seems more of a commercial for the iPhone than it is a commercial for an insurance company…

Photo credit: wired.com

That’s usually easier said than done…

I had the opportunity to see a very well executed example of such this weekend – the Red Bull Air Race.

Red Bull Gives You Wings

What’s a better event to bring this to life than an air race?

However, finding the right event is only one small step toward success. The devil, as always, is in the details.

Red Bull had free sampling, of course. But true to its “cool” equity, it’s handed out by uniformed Red Bull Girls. In it’s free sample tent introducing it’s new product, it was set up as a cool lounge with DJ to complete.

Branding and promotion carried onto merchandising at the event’s gift shop.

Of course, at the end of the day, Red Bull is as much a daytime drink as it is a nighttime drink. Therefore, to round out the event, it sponsored an after-party at the nightclub in town.

But, in this day and age, these were not enough. Red Bull also had an iPhone app to make sure it continuously engage its core demographics.

So, what have you done lately to bring your slogan to life?

Of course the content is the key to all this, but the language is just as important.

The following picture shows a flyer at an art museum event. It was obvious what the objective of this flyer was: connect with a younger demographic. Note the language of this flyer.

First, the pictures reflected young people studying the arts. This shows pictorially who the target of this piece is. While the pictures looked staged, they serve their purpose.

Second, the language such as “peeps” is very reflective of the language used by the target demographic. As marketers, you need to make sure that you are talking the same language as your target audience.

Third, it is what’s not said that matters. The Facebook logo and Twitter logo was simply there. This piece assumed that the target would get it, and they do. The target demographic did not need you spell it out. Had this piece spelled out what these logos mean, the target would think that this piece does not “get them”.

The last point I’d like to make was delivery. This flyer was posted at a “Culture and Cocktail” event. It was essentially a happy hour at the art museum, with free cocktail and DJ. The event attracted the target, and the flyer delivered the message to the target.

Now, the event itself probably did more toward their objective of attracting the younger demographics to the museum. The flyer was a good way to engage this group and attempts to continue this relationship on an on-going basis.

photo.jpg, originally uploaded by jeannie8p.